


Collaboration

by lesbomancy



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/F, Gen, Republic Strategic Information Service, Sith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 11:38:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6077955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbomancy/pseuds/lesbomancy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yet another side-story about two of my characters coming into contact with one another!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Collaboration

Space travel was never fun. Everything from the smallest jerk to the slightest misalignment before hyperspace gave him a deep, anxious panic whether he was asleep or awake. It didn’t help that he was in a day-long deep cover operation. One that he absolutely hated and wished would end before he even arrived on Dromuund Kaas. One that had more risk attached than if he hung a Republic insignia from his testicles and began waving his genitals at the nearest Imperial dreadnaught.

The captain’s quarters of a D5-Mantis was hardly comfortable to begin with, but with his partner swerving through an asteroid field it made sleep beyond impossible. Too many memories involved with the sudden halts and the break-neck turns. Too much on his mind already, barring the operation. Too many people he had no idea where he stood with, some of which he was already married to. Some of who he wasn’t.

As his eyes opened he grasped his right hand. It never would stop shaking in space. It couldn’t have been the bed, especially not with the top-grade climate control of the custom-fit D5 that his partner had on. The mattress? No, couldn’t be; the mattress was deep, fluffy, and automatically curved to meet his body’s shape… yet it wasn’t quite as comfortable as the couch he spent the night before in, even if he did wake up as a habitat to more bug species than a rotting corpse.

All in his head. The systems were tuned to drown out the movements of space, yet in the core of his person he swore he could feel it. The swaying weightlessness, the speed-.. he had to stop thinking about it. Focus on the operation. Clear his mind.

The Director had informed him that this operation was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Rarely had the SIS or it’s assets had a clear window to Dromund Kaas, let alone one an agent could readily jump through at a moment’s notice. While Imperial Intelligence had brutal operatives numbered one to one trillion and protected the planet like the Emperor’s guard dogs, the SIS had better encryption systems and far more skilled slicers. They were the brains to the brawn, carefully inserting Norredi’s cover personality into the Imperial database as his flight to Dromund Kaas begun. By this point in the flight his cover identity was nestled deep in Imperial Intelligence’s potential assets.. and hopefully they were none the wiser.

Kaas City alone had a database that had only been cracked twice in the past thirty years, making this a very suspicious third. Perhaps they were waiting for him? “Honey to draw the insects in,” as the Director had put it once. If all went well, he would come up in their database as Ryben A'kazz, hotshot bounty hunter straight from Mandalore. With a few SIS assassination targets on his list the Imperials would be dying to let him visit the Mandalorian Enclave and frequent their city. Let him get close to an up-and-coming Lord looking to kill or hinder her rivals by any means necessary. He would be that means.

Rising, he looked to the mirror. A sharp new hairstyle and eye color changing drops made him into a pure Mandalorian. Ryben A'kazz. His accent didn’t need changing, and that was an advantage. The reason he was chosen for the job, other than his contacts and access to a D5-Mantis, the fledgeling mercenary’s favorite vessal of choice.

This D5 was in Ryben’s name, but the real owner was his partner.. the pilot. A Rattataki bounty hunter who he’d had the chance to work with before. An intensely brutal looking woman known as Aurrajj with a spider-like webbing of tattoos that covered her face, the large black inking on her chin making her look like a possessed puppet when her stark white eyes sparkled with the prospect of killing Imperials. The large ring in her nose was ripped from the ear of her last boss-.. the same boss that had her face raked by his growing pet Rancor when she failed to bring in a rival spice dealer alive. Rumor had it that before she pierced her nose with her vibroknife that she made him eat the chunks of ear she ripped off. After that, the majority of any SIS following on her deemed her too risky and the tailing operative on her was reassigned, the reason being that she was ‘too much of a wild gundark’ to be an intelligence asset.

That changed on Cato Neimoidia once the Imperials hired her to assassinate several wealthy bureaucrats and turn the world into a government that would favor Imperial control. Norri was in place on another operation, but the orders came through to stop the Rattataki and keep the world favoring the Republic they were so fondly part of. Several hours of oozing his cover to her and offering exponential amounts of credits turned into killing her Imperial handlers and switching sides, becoming Norri’s pet project for the entirety of the operation.

Several deposed and dead criminal ring leaders later, Aurrajj found herself in the possession of a brand new D5-Mantis and enough credits to pick and choose her jobs at will. Her and 'Ryben’ were best of friends ever since, though communicated mostly through holocall or messages.

Aurrajj sat in the pilot’s chair, weaving and twisting the Mantis’ outer metallic shell between ever faster approaching asteroids. The very image sat his heart in his throat, though he played it ever the cool mercenary as he stood behind Aurrajj, his hand clinging to a ceiling console hard enough to hide the shaking.

Watching a head case like Aurrajj squeak in pleasure at every near miss was something of a regularity for Norri. Idle conversation about Kaas City came as natural to him as any conversation would to a man who makes his living off of lying to others and twisting them to his needs. There was a degree of remorse for using Aurrajj, though, as she proved herself nothing but loyal and at some points fond of “Ryben’s” no-nonsense anti-Imperial attitude about life.

She was insane, however, almost as much as Norredi would be if he weren’t picked up by the SIS after the Melas incident. That alone kept the truth from entering her ears, for if she were ever caught or had enough of an incentive she would purposefully or accidentally sell him out, not necessarily realizing that she was alienating the only thing that kept her alive for this long.

Once the asteroid field cleared Norri sat down beside Aurrajj and told her of their intentions. 

 

Kaas City port authority was nothing to be shrugged at. Even if they complied there was a large chance that once they reached the ground an Imperial boarding party would search the entirety of their ship and either jail them or let them go as they took anything they deemed a 'threat’ to the Empire. That often included credits, medical supplies, and anything remotely shiny to the inspecting boarding party.

Luckily the hanger that Norri and Aurrajj landed in was too high for any shakedown party to be concerned with. They were scanned, approved, and sent on their way through the spaceport of Kaas City. It seemed as if his cover held, the identity placard before a port authority officer showing the visage of a Mandalorian man, not a citizen of the Galactic Republic. Once they went into the humid, open air of Kaas City it was clear without the faintest spec of a doubt that it wast he most oppressive city in the galaxy.

Sith of every rank and Imperial guards viewed civilians as insects, many slaves scurrying about with their heads down in order to escape being chastised from their brutal masters. One Darth with a few Acolytes following behind him as a human skull hanging from his belt, a memento of a past battle or a power ploy, Norredi wasn’t clear which.

Aurrajj held her tongue, the scowl on her face and fondling of her pistol’s grip as she looked every uniformed man and women up and down just barely contained from turning into outright violence for a system she hated. Norri couldn’t blame her, but instead regretfully opted to keep in the cover. A firm slap on the back of Aurrajj’s head before informing her that they had a mark to meet.

Norri kept his eyes on his datapad as he and Aurrajj sifted through the mobs of people moving through Kaas City’s streets. A particularly bad storm was about to hit, most of the traffic aiming to get inside before the rain kicked up and the humid air became more of a whirlwind. He stopped for a second, brow furrowing in realization as he turned to stare at the citadel’s tower.

The Dark Council and the Emperor were there. Everything that represented oppression, hatred, and disregard for life was but half a kilometer away. Part of him considered loading down Aurrajj’s D5-Mantis with several nuclear warheads and 'crashing’ into the citadel’s base. It would take months to craft the warheads and hide them on the ship.. but would it be worth it? No. They would simply be replaced by other braggarts with lightsabers and a penchant for piercing their genitals as a show of strength.

“Boss,” Aurrajj called. His vision dimmed, mind churning into a shadow world of what it usually is. Panic, realizations, and the lack of his medication catching up to him. The spires of Kaas City grew five times their size, the faces of each Sith several times more threatening, more distorted than they were before as a shadowy mass engulfed the sky and a bitter, irony taste dominated his tongue as the streets gained the image of flowing blood. He was getting lost.. and then Aurrajj slapped him across the cheek. “Ry! Stop fucking around, I don’t know the way.”

The return from reality was like a stimulant injected directly into his neck. His nostrils flared briefly as he coughed, throat clearing of phlegm and his pupils returned to normal, no longer focusing on what wasn’t there. Kaas City returned to normal, as did it’s denizens, allowing Norredi to turn and move on. Eventually they came to the outskirts, Dromund Kaas’ skyline crackling madly as the clouds and lightning came together in a combination that mirrored a coming storm.

Wuner, a slave of one Lord Deyn, stood next to a speeder wringing his hands. His eyes shot out to the wilderness, a wild gundark seen dismembering a traveling Mandalorian testing his mettle against the beasts. The look on his face changed from cockiness to fear once the blood of his stumpy arm splashed against his face, but only long enough for effect before the animal ended the Mando’s life.

Norri slapped his datapad roughly against Wuner’s chest, bringing the jittery man back to reality. Aurrajj gently drew her fingers against her holster as she leaned against the Lord’s speeder, her head drooping to rest against Norredi’s armored shoulder. Normal people wouldn’t have noticed it through the armor, but internally he was screaming, begging for something to happen so he could run away-.. anything to stop the infernal contact.

“My partner and I solve problems. Heard your boss is looking for someone to solve 'em.” He placed a hand on his hip, showcasing his intricately decorated pistol, indicating him as one from Mandalore who had accomplished many things. Deyn was hiring only those who were of the planet itself, not concerned with the mercenaries who considered themselves Mandalorians because they admired strength. This Sith wanted people who knew the slums of that planet and fought from underneath their filth to achieve greatness. Lord Deyn wanted someone worthy of being a Sith. 

 

“This way, sir. Our Lady has been waiting for you.” A new slave, though this one didn’t seem as broken in as the last. She stood up straight, proud of her rebellious nature. The brand on her cheek labeled her as property, but also as trouble. Most Sith only kept these sorts unless they liked them.. or if they enjoyed breaking the proud ones. Either way it wasn’t a good sign, likely indicating that Lord Deyn was a sadist or a psychopath.

The door that was opened before Norri and Aurrajj was something of great note. The inscriptions on it depicted the Great Hyperspace War, one of the first of many grand battles that were fought to keep the Sith and their twisted teachings from the Core Worlds. They were only able to view it in passing as they moved through the winding grey-black halls. Norredi figured it out quickly, though. The artifacts, family heirlooms, and other such objects in the hall to what he surmised would be a library indicating that this person inherited a family estate, one belonging to a very, very untainted line of Sith 'purebloods.’

“So your high-bitchiness has a lot of creds to throw around at us. We gonna get anything up front?” Aurrajj couldn’t take it anymore. She saw precious jewels.. and wanted precious jewels. She wanted pay, and if anyone knew it’d be the slaves.

Slaves were like an auto-pilot. You ask them a question and they will spit out the answer that was beaten into them. “Lord Deyn is most generous, but we have been told nothing of her intentions.”

Aurrajj was one to continue the banter, leaving Norri to study the entrance to Lord Deyn’s library. He was right in every regard, but the seemingly spartan shelves of holodiscs and archaic books threw him off guard. Sith were hedonists, not ones to tone down anything, especially not in their little command center in the middle of a Dromund Kaas doom swamp. This one was different, as judging by the metals it was recently renovated in the past ten, maybe twelve years. One of the new overlords shifted gears, changing their tune from what the family had in the past.

Lord Deyn’s image, juxtaposed against Aurrajj and Norri’s, was the complete opposite of two utilitarian mercenaries. Clad in a dark blue backless dress, the Sith 'pureblood’ turned to look at the pair of hirelings. Her dark black hair was done up in a mohawk, the remains of it combed back and packed tightly to give a styled, vicious look when compared with the golden jewelry pierced into her neck and ears. At one point or another she was involved in some sort of a blast, the right-most tendrils and bony protrusions coming from her face looking somewhat malformed with the rest of the leathery, damaged skin that went from her jawline to disappear into her hair. Her eyes were the most shocking part of the image, everything but the retina being a bright, almost glowing yellow that all but saw through walls.

In her dress it almost seemed like Lord Deyn was punk rock’s answer to the Victorian era.. in space. Aurrajj was visibly taken aback by the dark red skinned woman, opting to shuffle behind Norri in case she started hurling lightning or lightsaber. He stood strong, however, and even approached Deyn as a man would a sanitation worker. He put a hand on his hip and the other hung limp at his side. “Heard you got a job for true Mando'ade. I’m here to do work.”

The pureblood woman shot her hand forward. A strong hand, though it looked as if she didn’t work a day in her life. “A pleasure, Mister A'kazz. Perhaps your associate should wait outside with my servant.”

It didn’t long for Aurrajj to scurry outside. While violent, bitter, and utterly fearless she had that streak that made her more willing to stand outside starting at stormy Dromund Kaas that sit in with someone who looked vicious enough to rip your throat out with their teeth. The branded servant closed the chamber doors, the slight hiss of them closing starting the conversation. Deyn walked to a holoterminal, bringing up images of Norredi staring into the skyline of Kaas City earlier. She tapped her manicured fingernail on the screen before gesturing to a seat.

Norri went and took a seat, lifting one leg to rest it on the other knee. He looked at Lord Deyn as she sat on a hovering chair, legs crossed at the knees as one of her heeled shoes dangled just centimeters off the ground, threatening to fall off her foot.

“You and I are going to be the best of friends, Senior Agent Norredi Dekk.” Deyn’s Kaasian accent slithered across the room, the last two words sending chills up his spine. He didn’t let it show, he didn’t feel anything. Letting a Sith know they were right was unheard of in intelligence work.. and it would be accepting defeat. “I’m not going to forward your profile to Imperial Intelligence nor am I going to tell your little associate that you’re a Republic spy, but in return.. you must help me. We have a common enemy, a Lord Kymerri. He killed my father in a recent power struggle, and in return some of my people went to kill some of his.. a courier from someone else was caught in between. He died, my men uncovered intelligence on you.”

She paused for effect, her painted lips tightening as a cheery smile formed. “That courier was on it’s way to the citadel. You angered another Lord, one I do not care for.. but now I’ve been intercepting all mentions of you towards Intelligence. All for this.. all so you can be my 'friend.’”

He’d been in worse situations, but.. not on the Imperial capital. Not thirty kilometers away from a ship he knew could get him off of Dromund Kaas faster than shit through a Baspoor Glider. If he resisted he would die. That’s exactly what Lord Deyn drew him away for. A private conversation where she could jam her foot on his throat and he would have to submit to her wishes. Working with a Sith was unheard of, not to mention it had the chance of getting him burned by someone who didn’t understand the position.

“You don’t have a choice right now, but you will when you leave. You’ll bring up my file and read it through.. in a week, if you don’t speak to me by then, I will forward your profile to Imperial Intelligence and use it to bring myself a meager amount of favor amongst the hedonistic morons that inhabit the Dark Council.”

Lord Deyn lifted a hand, extending it with a small, girly datapad and a card. One was a holoterminal number, the datapad holding the details of her proposed 'contract.’ Norredi stared at both, briefly, before accepting them. “What makes you think I’ll work with you?”

The door swished open at the waving of Deyn’s hand, her smile growing larger. “Because I know what your problems are. I know what makes you tick. I know what you saw in Kaas City and I serve the same purpose as your benefactors do. Never let images hide intent.”

Pushing himself to a stand, he inhaled deeply before moving out, tugging Aurrajj by the back of her collar as she peered into the room, looking for things to steal. “Thank you for the audience, my lord. We’ll be on our way.”


End file.
